Hanover girls soccer edged by Scituate

After suffering a one-sided loss to Scituate the last time the teams played a few weeks ago, the Hanover girls soccer team felt it had something to prove at the rematch, Monday night at Hanover for Hanover’s Senior Night.

After suffering a one-sided loss to Scituate the last time the teams played a few weeks ago, the Hanover girls soccer team felt it had something to prove at the rematch, Monday night at Hanover for Hanover’s Senior Night.

Hanover finished with mixed results in that area.

Scituate, who had already won the Patriot League Fisher Division, won the game 2-1, but this time around Hanover played much more like the playoff team they are.

Hanover had already qualified for the MIAA tournament and was hoping for a statement game on Monday.

“It was an excellent game all around,” Hanover coach Garth Nelson said. “Both sides did well. The officials did a good job. The calls were good. The only frustration was not holding the tie.

“They’re a very quick team, a hard tackling team. They make good decisions. There aren’t a lot of rebounds.”

Hanover got on the board first when Alicia Varraso scored at 16:23 with help from Elizabeth Ward.

The score stayed 1-0 into the second half before Scituate’s Hannah Hoffman tied it in the 32nd minute with an unassisted blast that got past Hanover goalie Madison Plummer to tie the game.

Scituate had a chance to take the lead less that two minutes later, but Plummer had a big save to keep the game even.

Plummer was outstanding thoughout.

“Maddie had a great game,” Nelson said of his senior captain. “She is a consistent keeper. She’s a great communicator as well. I told the captains that if they called a timeout, whoever calls it owns it. It’s theirs. She did and took control.”

Plummer called the timeout with 5:31 to play and Hanover trailing 2-1.

Scituate took the 2-1 lead with 15:54 left to play on a goal by Oriana McDonough with help from Hannah Hoffman.

Hanover has a makeup game with North Quincy, along with a non-league game against Old Rochester.

Nelson had praise for a number of his players.

“Hana Chahid played well at sweeper,” he said. “Emma Stone and Caroline Bickford also played well. They’re both solid outside backs who play with a lot of determination.”

With the season winding down, Nelson said his team is preparing hard for the Tournament.

“There are enough players still around from our run a few years ago,” Nelson said. “There are also a lot of players who still have a bad taste from last year’s one-and-out. For this year’s seniors, it is a little bittersweet. There is still the tournament, but it’s getting closer to their last game.”